so good to be alive when the eulogies are read.

So, after skipping the last season and a half of 10, and nearly all of 11 that wasn't written by Neil or a Christmas episode, I came back, like a strayed lamb, for the fiftieth.

...and I surprised myself by in general, without nitpicking (I could nitpick), liking it a lot. The Doctor being generous of spirit. Check. (A thing I felt often lacking in 10's tenure--a writing, not an acting, issue) Structural and narrative integrity? Check. The beautiful play of the sonic screwdriver joke into the deadly serious climactic reveal? Check. Archive footage?

Oh god. I made a noise, you guys. A NOISE.

God bless CGI, you guys. My heart.

I wanted to see 8.5 regen into 9, but I guess the powers that be aren't over fucking with the honorable Chris Eccleston yet, so fuck them sideways. And that is Not Elizabeth Tudor, you motherfuckers. Not in any parallel Earth.

Although yes, I laughed at the deconstruct of the "Body of a weak and feeble woman" quote. Well played, sirs. Well played.

But anyway, what I want to talk about is Osgood. Osgood, yes. And Osgood's scarf. And Four.

Where did she get that scarf, I ask you? Why is she the girl who calmly (and compassionately) hands her Zygon impersonator her inhaler when it has an asthma attack? Why is she the person who, when the world is falling down around her ears, screams, "Doctor, help me!"

People. This is not Osgood's first rodeo. And she's not screaming for 10, 11, or 8.5 for that matter. She barely knows any of them.

...Perhaps I should put it this way.

What is Tom Baker not wearing, when he shows up at the very end, stepping out of his retirement for a word with his future self? (Yes, we once saw him regenerate at a much younger age... but Time heals paradoxies, do it ain't?)

I say ye, Osgood is not just one Osgood's daughter*. She is Four's last Companion.

You doubt me. I see it in your eyes.

But what gesture does young Osgood make, in her scarf, when she hands her Zygon counterpart the inhaler, preserving its life--and by not revealing themselves, protecting the pact the younger (older?) Doctors have forced upon her (both of her) colleagues?